Olives are a staple in Greece - and especially in Crete. The soil and climate are perfect and nearly everyone seems to own at least a small piece of land with a few trees that produce oil, even if it's only enough for their own family use.
The silver leaves and gnarled trunks of olives give distinctive character to the land. This is a really hardy species and its root system can regenerate the tree even if the above-ground structure is destroyed. Trees can grow to as old as 2,000 years, as has been verified by examination of trunk rings. We saw some fabulous ancient olives in the village of Argyroupoli, which has its origins way back in the mists of time.
You might think that olive trees are naturally squat, but they are actually pruned and if they are grown for their fruit to be eaten rather than pressed for oil, then they are allowed to reach their full height, which is quite a stately size.
As I drove around western Crete last weekend, the ground beneath the trees in most olive groves was covered in black or blue nets, which can only mean one thing - it's time to harvest the olives and take them to the press for the production of rich, gloopy, gold-green olive oil.
From early in the morning, families were gathering to shake the olives loose from the trees and then get stuck into the painstaking task of separating the fallen olives from twigs and leaves that inevitably accompany their descent from the tree.
In one remote mountain village I found pressing in full swing - clearly on a small scale and not proceeding at a fast pace - but growers had brought in their sacks from all around and they filled the square, each labelled with its owner's name. The owners will be hanging around to keep watch that their olives are pressed as a separate batch and they receive all the oil due.
I mentioned black nets. Certainly these were standard, but in one hillside grove where the harvesting had finished, I spotted red nets wrapped around the tree trunks and looking for all the world like a beautiful landscape sculpture.
The silver leaves and gnarled trunks of olives give distinctive character to the land. This is a really hardy species and its root system can regenerate the tree even if the above-ground structure is destroyed. Trees can grow to as old as 2,000 years, as has been verified by examination of trunk rings. We saw some fabulous ancient olives in the village of Argyroupoli, which has its origins way back in the mists of time.
You might think that olive trees are naturally squat, but they are actually pruned and if they are grown for their fruit to be eaten rather than pressed for oil, then they are allowed to reach their full height, which is quite a stately size.
As I drove around western Crete last weekend, the ground beneath the trees in most olive groves was covered in black or blue nets, which can only mean one thing - it's time to harvest the olives and take them to the press for the production of rich, gloopy, gold-green olive oil.
From early in the morning, families were gathering to shake the olives loose from the trees and then get stuck into the painstaking task of separating the fallen olives from twigs and leaves that inevitably accompany their descent from the tree.
In one remote mountain village I found pressing in full swing - clearly on a small scale and not proceeding at a fast pace - but growers had brought in their sacks from all around and they filled the square, each labelled with its owner's name. The owners will be hanging around to keep watch that their olives are pressed as a separate batch and they receive all the oil due.
I mentioned black nets. Certainly these were standard, but in one hillside grove where the harvesting had finished, I spotted red nets wrapped around the tree trunks and looking for all the world like a beautiful landscape sculpture.
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